Platelets, Pizza, And Shonen Jump

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Greetings and welcome to the Carl Show,
starring Richard.
I'm Richard, starring in Carl'sshow.

SPEAKER_00 (00:09):
And I am Carl, the other star of the show.

SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
Speak with confidence, man.
At this point we have the two ofus.
We have more episodes than PDZ.
Do we really?
I don't know, probably.
I haven't checked the DragonBall Z episode count in a long
time.

SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
It's fair.
It's not exactly relevant to ourdaily lives.

SPEAKER_01 (00:39):
Oh, I think I ran into a technical difficulty.
Can you hear me, sir?

SPEAKER_00 (00:45):
I can indeed hear you.
There does seem to be a bit of alag spike, though.

SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
Oh well, that'll just be in the polished episode.
To go down in history.

SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
Oh yeah, the most polished episode is because
that's what our a podcast is allabout.

SPEAKER_01 (00:59):
To be fair, if they all bought more copies of my
book, we could afford an editor,so it's our listeners' fault for
our quality.
Oh, that's so rough.
Okay.
This is the classic Simpsonsmeet of no, I'm not wrong.
It's the children who are wrong.

(01:20):
Uh but real talk.
What is new with you?
Platelets, I hope.

SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
Uh well.
Well, so I mean, on that front,um I I had mentioned to you off
stream, uh, but so like myplatelets were low, uh,
pre-splenectomy.
Um, and then they took out myspleen.
And they shot up through theroof.
Uh the upper panic limit is athousand.

(01:48):
Uh oh well.
I guess that would be a millionplatelets per microliter of
blood.

SPEAKER_01 (01:54):
These are numbers, yes.

SPEAKER_00 (01:56):
Um but they uh for whatever reason it's like RPM,
they had to count platelets.
You know, it's like you'reyou're at a thousand when you're
at a million.
Uh anyway.
More to the point, uh at thepeak I was at over like twelve

(02:18):
hundred uh platelets.
Um but apparently that's anormal rebound for post-uh
splenectomy.
Uh and this week they're down toa much more respectable, like
400 and or 550-ish.
Uh, and the target is around300.
So, you know, not above theupper panic line, but I'm still

(02:39):
a little bit uh above theplatelet's normal range.

SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
I mean that at least implies the surgery did
something.

SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
That definitely did something.

SPEAKER_01 (02:52):
Because I have to imagine that uh if having a
rebound effect is better foryour mental health than if it
did literally nothing and you'relike, oh cool.

SPEAKER_00 (03:02):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's that's fair.

SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
Not to transplain how you should feel about your
surgery.

SPEAKER_00 (03:12):
So, well, I mean I I do feel a bit more confident
that uh you know I'm not gonnadie in a random knife fight or
something.
At least not from you know,local.

SPEAKER_01 (03:20):
Maybe to our long time listeners, they have no
increased confidence that you'renot gonna die in a random knife
fight.
From the information youyourself have given them.

SPEAKER_00 (03:29):
Uh, but so um unrelated to the medical drama,
um guess nothing reallyinteresting's happened on that
front.

SPEAKER_01 (03:39):
Yeah, it's just a shame for you to be recovered.
Huh?
Well, I was gonna say it's likeoh no, Carl's not having medical
drama.
That is bad for our show.
Better send it back intosurgery.

SPEAKER_00 (03:54):
I'll just say, tune in, tune into our podcast next
week when we play uh TigerHeart, uh, and you'll probably
hear uh the results of mymeeting with a neurologist.

SPEAKER_01 (04:05):
But that's a funny sequel hook to be like, will
Carl die in medicalcomplications?
Watch our spin-up sh.
Could you imagine you're likewatching an episode of Young
Sheldon and they're like, tofind out who won the
presidential election, tune intonext week's Big Bang Theory to
find out.

SPEAKER_00 (04:27):
Anyways, um but so I I I am fairly nearly uh fully
recovered from uh thesplenectomy.
Um and uh so I've I've returnedto work.
I've been working for I guessthis is like week three um uh
post-surgery.

(04:49):
And uh been on light duty, soI've had to do work in the back
instead of making or cuttingpizzas, which I don't really
enjoy, but you know, gotta focuson recovery, do some things that
are unpleasant to make sure thatyou actually get recovered.

SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
That makes sense.
Some people would take multipledays off.

SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
I I took I took multiple days off.
I took two weeks off.

SPEAKER_01 (05:14):
Okay, okay.
I mean, I've seen people taketwo weeks off when you get to
like academic positions, like,oh, I'm taking two weeks off
just to go to a cabin becauseI'm feeling kind of stressed.
And you're like, well, I lost anorgan, so that's 72 hours on
paid leave, seems fair.
Unless you've got paid leave,and in which case I can suck it

(05:36):
with my negativity.

SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
Uh well, so I did take two weeks off prior to the
surgery, which I did get paidfor.
Uh, and then the two weeks off Itook to actually recover from
the surgery, uh, I was paid aportion of my wage through uh
employment insurance.

SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
Um You tried so hard to like not throw your
employment under the bus there,but fair enough.

SPEAKER_00 (06:02):
I'm just saying, uh my my boss pays out uh the
required Saskatchewan vacationpay on every paycheck, and then
in addition to that, uh offerspeople two weeks of of paycheck.

SPEAKER_01 (06:13):
I hate that, so I'm gonna give a mini rant.
So we've seem to have createdsome special laws for food
service, and every time I see alaw where I'm like this was
clearly designed to not benefitthe employees, my eyes roll.
So the theory behind vacationpay is that money is taken off
your paycheck, so you can takesome time off like every human

(06:33):
being needs.

SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
Employers that backwards, like that they just
add money to your paycheck forvacation pay.

SPEAKER_01 (06:43):
Yeah, that's the problem.

SPEAKER_00 (06:44):
Well, I mean, but employers are supposed to either
bank it or pay it out eachpaycheck, which my boss pays out
each paycheck.

SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Yeah, that's the problem.
Do you not see the problem herethat to ensure that my staff
stays consistent so I can run atthe minimum viable employees,
under the assumption that no oneever takes time off, I give them
their vacation pay slightamounts that barely affect their
paycheck, so no so I never haveto have large coverage gaps so
people never actually rest?

(07:11):
Do you not see like thefundamental systemic problem
there of if we don't let peoplebuild up vacation pay, they
won't take vacations.
Therefore I can hire lessemployees, therefore my
employees get less days off.
Hmm.
Because if you weren't allowedto just give them their vacation
pay, they would take vacations.

(07:31):
But no food entry-level job I'veever worked at has had enough
staff to actually cover if everyemployee took a vacation every
year.

unknown (07:41):
Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (07:42):
So it's actually just a way to make sure you
don't have coverage gaps.
Which isn't particularlyethical.

SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
I guess that's uh I I guess that's why it's nice
that, as I said, my boss givesus actual paid vacation in
addition to the uh legallyrequired Saskatchewan vacation
pay.

SPEAKER_01 (08:01):
Like I'm not shitting on your job here, I'm
shitting on my previous jobshere.
Good job to your boss forletting you actually take a
vacation.

SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
Uh and additionally, uh I uh I I have a friend who
works at an entry-level uh he'sa wine cook.
Um and uh during COVID, uh hewell not during COVID, but he
made uh for a very long time, heuh accrued a lot of vacation
pay.
He has something like six orseven grand uh accrued in

(08:30):
vacation pay.
Uh and his uh place ofemployment would not allow him
to uh withdraw his vacation payif he wasn't actually going on a
vacation.
He had to prove he was goingsomewhere before they would let
him let him take it.
And he probably board No no Heprobably could have gone to like
the the labor board and uhactually had them forced to pay

(08:53):
out a vacation.

SPEAKER_01 (08:54):
Yeah, you don't get to choose what counts as a
vacation.
If someone wants to just taketheir vacation pay and play
Pokemon Go in their apartment,the lamest way to play Pokemon
Go, that is their right.

SPEAKER_00 (09:06):
Uh, but now uh his workplace is worried that when
he quits, uh he'll break theirlabor budget because he has too
much vacation pay that has topay out.

SPEAKER_01 (09:16):
Like, good though, right?
Like, the idea is people shouldbe able to take time to rest and
recover.
And I find those little liketact on vacation pay actively
discourage people from resting.
Because you just lose money ifyou take time off that way,
because there's no buffer zone.
Yeah, that makes sense.
So then thus your people don'ttake time off, they become

(09:38):
miserable, and they beat theirwives.
Like, it's not great.
I can say, I'm gonna be bravefor coming out and saying this,
people should not beat theirspouses.
I do apologize for the enforcedheteronormativity of my
statement.
Anyone can beat any partner, andit's bad.

SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
Gotta be inclusive with your beatings.

SPEAKER_01 (10:02):
Oh yeah.
It goes both ways.
If I'm gonna argue that youshould be able to choose
whatever gender you want forLincoln Legend of Zelda be male,
be a male anywhere in between.
I also have to acknowledge thatsame-sex couples can beat each
other.
Like, fairness, quality.

SPEAKER_00 (10:19):
Anyways, um, so I'm at work, working in the back
section, doing dishes orwhatever.

SPEAKER_01 (10:26):
Relaxing the pool and shooting some meatball by
the school, we get it.

SPEAKER_00 (10:30):
Uh a driver cashes out.
Um, and so I'm like, okay, theperson who cash took the driver
probably isn't smart enough todrop money from the till to make
sure we don't get robbed.

SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
Reasonable.
I wouldn't think smart enough,I'd say aware to do so.
I'm gonna be nice to make.

SPEAKER_00 (10:50):
I'm the manager there.
I I have told people that theyneed to do more drops.
Nobody really does drops fromthe till.

SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
I mean, I mean, try giving them a caramel cube
whenever they successfully doit.

SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
You know, I haven't tried that sort of uh positive
reinforcement.
Maybe I maybe I should.

SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
Like, if I learn anything TA, you treat them like
pigeons.

SPEAKER_00 (11:08):
Or set up a little like gold star chart and give
people stickers on the dayafter, like, oh, this person did
a drop.

SPEAKER_01 (11:14):
You know, I literally have like a bunch of
stickers in my backpack.
I am fully prepared to putstickers on these papers I have
to grade tonight.

SPEAKER_00 (11:22):
Hmm.
That's that's funny.
But so I go up front, I Iaccount some money, put it in
the safe, and then I realize uhthat there's actually someone
who's just like sitting on thefloor right by the front counter
where you wouldn't really beable to see them on camera.
You can hardly see them whenyou're standing at the cam at
the counter.

(11:43):
So I lean over, ask them ifthey're okay, if they need an
ambulance or something, and Inotice they have someone like
laying in their lap.
Uh, and they're like, oh yeah,he had a seizure.
And I was like, oh, so you guysneed an ambulance?
And the guy working in linebehind me is like, oh yeah.
I I called an ambulance like 15minutes ago.
They must be crazy, basicallythey haven't shown up.

(12:06):
Okay.
Well, I swear.
I tell these people that theambulance is on the way.
Uh, and then like an hourpasses.
Oh no.
Uh I come up front to serve acustomer and like, hey, you know
you have a homeless personsleeping on the floor here
around the discounter.
It's like, uh, no, they they hada seizure, we're waiting for an

(12:27):
ambulance.
Like, okay.
Uh I don't think the person wasvery pleased either way.
They were kind of laughing aboutthe fact that a homeless person
was sleeping there, but I thinkthey felt bad when they found
out that it was actually amedical emergency.
Um, but so they get their feetand they leave.
Um, and then we like called 911back.

(12:48):
The person was on hold for likefive minutes.
They couldn't couldn't wait thatlong because we other had other
stuff going on, so we had tohang up.
They eventually called us back,being like, oh, we had a hang-up
call from this phone number.
Like, yeah, we were trying tokeep you appraised of the
situation that we called aboutlike an hour and a half ago.
Uh, it took like two hours forthe ambulance deck to show up to

(13:09):
this guy who had a seizure.

SPEAKER_01 (13:11):
So, I often make a joke where I'm like, never go to
Saskatchewan, and then I'll belike, nah, I have like personal
beef with it.
It's not the province's fault.
I'm growing and maturing as aperson.
And then I meet with my friendCarl every couple weeks, and I
think to myself, no, no, nevergo to Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_00 (13:30):
Well, yeah, I I wonder if that's like a uniquely
Saskatchewan problem, or ifother provinces actually like
just have better emergencyresponse services or or what?

SPEAKER_01 (13:40):
No, no, because like I go to the Toronto Corps, and
it's not like I don't step overhuman beings on the street while
people literally saying, give memoney to do crack at Union
Station whilst drumming on aukulele.
So it's like it's not like Ilive in a more pleasant place,
it's that I haven't beenpublic-facing in years.

(14:01):
Fair enough.
So I'm in a like, I live in asuburb.
I commute to a place where I'mlike, mmm.
Uh, this is some sketchybehavior, and then I return back
to like my bubble.
And I just think to myself,yeah, my bubble's pretty nice.
I just chill it in my apartment.
I very rarely have to step oversomebody on the way.
But there's like some key areaswhere I'm like, mmm.

(14:24):
The place where I get off my busand catch my train, that is
probably as sketchy as TJ'spizza.
Or Union Station is probablysome areas are as sketchy as
TJ's pizza, maybe.
But then other areas are dark.
Oops.
Oopsie doodle.
Redacted, redacted, redacted.

(14:44):
No! Oh no, the feat's being cut.
I assume you're fine if wecontinue this episode, or do we
need a re-record?

SPEAKER_00 (14:52):
Oh yeah, yeah, no, no.
I I I mean, I I joke.
We we I've probably said thename multiple times on our
podcast.

SPEAKER_01 (14:59):
Oh no.
I mean, the funny part isthough, like, the joking aside,
I think anyone who's inSaskatchewan who listens to our
podcast, because of who we areas people, out of sheer
curiosity, this would be goodfor sales.
Cause the takeaway, like, islike I need to go take a look
and see Carl so I can get mytattoo updated to match his new
facial hair, and that can't bebad for business.

SPEAKER_00 (15:24):
Uh-oh.
Oh no.
So So but it's like, um.
I don't I have no specialloyalty to Canada in particular.
The the main advantage Canadahas over other countries, in my
opinion, is the fact that I'malready a Canadian citizen, so I
don't have to worry about anyimmigration shenanigans.

SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
One of what my main advantage is for being Canadian.
We actually give out literarygrants and sp like we actually
care about our media, and youcan get grants and bursaries and
scholarships.
Like, Canada's great if you'rean artist, because we actually
like need those, so we don'tjust turn to Republicans.

SPEAKER_00 (16:02):
Um and I also don't really have a specific loyalty
to Saskatchewan, aside from thefact that I I don't know if it's
actually true, but I I thinkSaskatchewan is the cheapest
province to live in.

SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Um I'm so bitter that my rent did not go up by
nearly enough.
It's like my rent inSaskatchewan because they were
in that like housing bubble whenI moved there.
I'm like, no, this is overpricedfor where I am.
By like a lot.
Hmm.
Like housing's much better.
Like, my good friend's house itlike million dollar house in
redacted, redacted, redacted,they could just buy like a

(16:37):
castle in Saskatchewan.
Like, picture a million dollarSaskatchewan house, and the
scale is simply different.

SPEAKER_00 (16:45):
Right, right.
Uh but no, I was I was jokingwith my fiance.
I was like, yeah, maybe weshould just like jump ship to
move to France.
Maybe.
But uh apparently she uh shelikes Canada and she doesn't
want to move to France, so noplans to move to Europe as of
yet.

(17:05):
But we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 (17:07):
I'm apathetic and lazy, right?
I'm a human being who'sdesperately tried to seek out
stability for the last 35 yearsor so.
So, like, my main motivation tonot move is like I'm trying to
just structure to be in asituation where I don't have to
move.
But also in academia, I'mprobably in the best place I

(17:28):
could be in Canada,realistically, for just like the
number of universities withinrange of me.

SPEAKER_00 (17:34):
Right, right.
I mean, like Vancouver.

SPEAKER_01 (17:37):
Well, think about it.
From my current location atRedacted, I can take a train to
go to six different universitiesabout equal distance.
Oh wow.
And several of them are in thetop university, and there's the
ones I go to.
So, like there's some likeoptions available.

SPEAKER_00 (17:58):
Okay, so be but before we move on to what's new
with you directly, um, I uh Ihave some questions about uh
Mutual, what's new with us, uh,which is um you had a meeting
with Man in the Hat about the uhrecording of someone analyzing
our episode, um one of ourepisodes.
Uh and uh On the initial listenthrough, uh I was completely

(18:24):
fooled.
I did not realize there was anAI uh creation.
Um but my question is, uh,through your meeting with Man in
the Hat, firstly, uh this mightbe useful information for people
who are creative and or createcontent for the internet, um did
he give us any tips about whatshould do if someone steals your
content?
And secondly, do we have anyidea who prompted an AI to

(18:47):
analyze our content?

SPEAKER_01 (18:49):
So, the first thing is Man in the Hat himself
assembled that pseudo-podcast.
Ah, okay.
So, for what the situation wasinteresting because he used a
feature to take our podcast andcreate a shorter, more condensed
version of it where it was inthe form of people analyzing our
podcast on a meta-level.

SPEAKER_00 (19:09):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (19:10):
But he didn't use that to illustrate the AI as bad
points.
Instead, he was using it toillustrate the bridge between
the humanities and the techsector.
Because we're in a situationright now where with all these
digital tools and the idea oflike prompt engineers emerging
that a humanities basis isactually in the most hirable

(19:34):
position it's ever been inbecause content can be created
so easily, good quant qualitycontent has actually spiked
drastically.
So let's take that 15-minutepseudo-podcast about us example.
Okay.
If they didn't have the sourcematerial of me and you doing
deep dives into gingerbread andmedical problems and things,

(19:56):
that content simply couldn'texist.
So if someone goes on theinternet and creates a ghost
copy of our content.
A, we can send a cease anddesist and have it pull it down.
But B, we just simply reach outand say, you need to cite us,
and then their traffic getsredirected to us because we're
the authority on it.
So if that video got posted andsomeone Googled it, it would

(20:20):
actually leave them to us.
Because we have an existingcreative set.
So what happens in theory is themore people who steal us with
generative content, the moretraffic it actually directs to
us.
Right.
And the more power and authoritywe have.
So we're in this weird areawhere like the people, the tech

(20:40):
bros are the ones most at riskof being eliminated by tech
bros.
Like, tech bros and middlemanagement are doomed.
Yeah, okay.
Where creatives kind of need toexist, because they're the only
ones who can make the tools makeanything of value.
Like if you try and have Sora 2make a video and you have no
cinematography training, you'rejust can only make bad cloned
videos that then get decentassisted and take down.

(21:02):
Where, say for example, someonedoes like five years of
screenwriting and gets theirscreenwriting MFA.
The things they could make arejust simply not on the same
scale.
Like for example, uh if someonegives me an essay written by
ChatGPT, I can edit it to beinggood in like ten minutes, right?

(21:23):
Right.
Where they would never be ableto figure out what was wrong
with it.
So it's like this cheat code hasmade it's basically if you've
only played Mega Man X with savestates, and then they release
all games that have save states,they won't actually know how to
play the game, and then we'lljust get stonewalled by the boss
of the game because they don'tactually I didn't build up any

(21:44):
skills to be able to do thething.
Right, right.
So I was flattered by the ideathat someone stole our content.
And I'm still flattered by theidea of people stealing our
content.

SPEAKER_00 (21:56):
I I was I was also flattered.
Uh like I said, I was duped uhby the uh by the AI.
Looking back, I would like tosay that I could have figured
out it was AI.
There were a few telltale signslike uh it didn't uh seem to
fully understand that myhospital visit was for the
splenectomy and not necessarilyhaving anything to do with the
palsy of the third nerve.

SPEAKER_01 (22:17):
Where I'm kind of like having my hot take on AI is
sort of pivoting a bit to it'sthe worst, and more that people
are the worst.
Because, like, as we weretalking pre-stream about grading
and essays, is that youmentioned like, would you rather
read ChatGPT generated essays,or would you rather read

(22:41):
handwritten essays?
What's gonna be moreinteresting?
And it really determined by thequality of the person and how
many I'll use up my F bomb earlyfucks I give.
So if you wrote an essay onanything, and you're like, okay,
and you use Chat GPT andgenerative sources, but actually
like uploaded the articlesmanually, made sure the

(23:03):
citations, right?
Like, you use it to write theessay, but you assembled all the
research, all the pieces.
It would probably be a betterread than if I locked you in a
room for two hours and said,here's a copy of the screenplay
for Pokemon the first movie,tell me what it's about.
Because in theory, having the AIwrite the essay part, if you do
the research, make the points,build the through lines right

(23:24):
into the story beats, it will bea more interesting read, because
you've removed the barrier oflogistics, right?
You've removed syntax from theequation and went straight into
here's my idea, I had to toolshape it.
But what happens is peoplearen't using it to build
something, they're using it tofill it full of blood.

(23:46):
And I, with my six years ofcreative writing training, if I
see a sentence that says, Thethemes of the play were
influenced by the themes of theplay, I'm just gonna be, no! You
said nothing! So, if someone hasme something ChatGPT written, I
am going to be savage about it.

(24:06):
I'm gonna be like, oh, that's acolon where there should be a
semicolon.
You had a robot write this, getyour life together.
Hey! What do you mean that's afake quote?
Fail! So it's like if someoneuses all the tools to the best
of their ability and writessomething good, sure.
But you already have to be kindagood, or else you wrote nothing.

(24:28):
And it's easier to fail though.
So it's like if these 50 essaysinstead of handwritten were
ChatGPT written, that'd be kindagreat.
Because I could just look atthem and be like, fail, fail,
fail, fail, ooh.
Or send an email and be like,send me a screenshot of how you
generated an M-dash.
And they'll be like, um, andlike fail.

(24:48):
Hey, I saw that you useparentheses instead of braces.
What's a parenthesis?
Uh, fail.
Right, like, it's almost likeit's easier to sift through the
garbage when their garbage is soobviously garbage.
Like, if I'm doing submissionreading and it says Chat GPT
set, I'm like, that's great,fail.

SPEAKER_02 (25:08):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (25:09):
But yeah, I'm not actually opposed to people using
AI tools to make stuff.
I am opposed to them makingmoney off it because no one
should legally loan anythingmade by AI because it's a crime
machine committing crime.
Like, my per my crusade againstcopyright infringement not being
forced by these AI tools isunrelated to my crusade against
quote unquote artist end quoteusing the tool.

(25:32):
Because it's like, I'm not gonnabe mad if Carl uses Sora 2 to
write Aizen versus MadaraSheehan animated.
However, Sora 2 should not havethe footage needed to generate
this, because that's a crime.
And Carl should not be able tosell me this video, because
that's a crime.

(25:54):
Like, you see the problem,right?
Like, they're crime machinesthat committed crime, and crime
shouldn't be legal becauseenough people crime at once.
Like, why is it that if I steala line from Harry Potter, that's
a crime.
It's like, why isn't Nintendocan copyright strike me for a
Zelda mod, but OpenAI can putthe entirety of Majora's mask

(26:18):
into its coding base and thenoutput Majora's mask.
Like, why why is the not a crimein that case?

SPEAKER_00 (26:26):
Well, anyway, that's enough of AI ranting.
Uh sure, I got another hour.
Well, yeah, but we need we needto get through what's new with
you so that we can get onto ouractual topic, which I believe is
shown and jump roundup sincethere's new content in shown and
jump.

SPEAKER_01 (26:40):
Fair.
So the what's new with me istypically how it's been a lot of
times of grad school, funclasses, working on stuff.
Like, not a lot of interestingthings.
So this week, I'm not gonna sayI hit burnout, but there's a
couple days where I went homeand like instead of working on
this project, I'm going toslowly make bacon-fried prokies
and take a nap.

(27:01):
So, like, Tuesday I came home,cooked dinner, took a nap.
Wednesday I came home, caught upon anime, went to bed.
Cause it's like I need to likesave what little bits of brain
power I have left in the tank soI can work on these massive
assignments.

unknown (27:16):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (27:17):
Because this weekend I need to write a 40-page paper.

SPEAKER_02 (27:20):
Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (27:21):
Which means I've kind of been like saving up my
energy, because that's how sleepworks.
So I can spend it all thisweekend.

SPEAKER_00 (27:28):
Make sense.

SPEAKER_01 (27:29):
And then I have to like start getting my paperwork
together to apply fordoctorates.
It's a whole thing.
So nothing.
So you actually have you'regonna have to apply for your
doctorates already, eh?
These timelines are brutal.
They'll be like, send out anapplication by end of December,
and I'm like, but I haven't doneanything yet.
Anywho.

(27:50):
So there's a good chance I sendout applications this year.
Don't get in, then send it outnext year when I have more stuff
done.

SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 (27:58):
The games.
And yeah, like, I'm just kind ofbeing slammed by work.
I have this stack of essays I'mclearly procrastinating grading.
I'm using this, I'm using thisas an excuse to practicate
rogue.
No, I woke up today, I'm like,well, I'll do the essays after
my podcast, because clearlythat's a good strategy.
I should play through a Mega Mangame instead of grading these

(28:19):
papers, because I need to killtime for the podcast, right?
Mm-hmm.
Although we did get a surge ofrandom questions in this week,
which is lovely, which will comeup later at the end of the
episode.
Because I like giving outsidecopies of the book.
I had to order another ten packof Welta Blades to start signing
and handing out, which is I'mhappy I burned through my stock.
That is great.

SPEAKER_00 (28:39):
That is great news.

SPEAKER_01 (28:41):
Because I do enjoy giving people free things.

SPEAKER_00 (28:44):
Well, and uh the entire point of this podcast has
been to build your brand, so thefact that it's been successful
is is fantastic.
Indeed.

SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
Our objectively high quality media content.
And then later AI will then scanall of our episodes and write
our biography.
Oh, that should be fun.
I should do that.
Load up every one of ourtranscripts into a machine and
be like, write the life story ofRichard and Carl and see what it
gives us.
That would be pretty funny.
I think it'd give us, like, it'dbasically output JoJo's bizarre

(29:12):
adventure.
Like, I wonder how manygenerations of Carl it thinks is
talked about, because he'vedefinitely died on podcast at
least four times.
As far as the algorithm'sconcerned.

unknown (29:24):
Yep, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 (29:25):
Like, I think at one point I've said on here I'm
actually a 20,000-year-oldvampire who's just simply hides
indoors so much that no onenoticed I don't go in direct
sunlight.

SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
I I think you've also said that I'm like the
fourth or fifth generation ofCarl clones.
Yep.
Because I keep having spleenfailure.

SPEAKER_01 (29:46):
And it's like we keep taking a chunk of spleen
that makes the last one, andthen it just kinda keeps going.
But yeah, not a whole lot newwith me.
Like, I I run Daggerheart.
I actually like booked the Fancyconference room to run a cohort
Dega Heart game in a coupleweeks.
But I was gonna run the prefabadventure, but there's not

(30:07):
enough characters, so I have towrite some more pre-fab
characters.
Ah.
Because I think I'm gonna runfor like I'm capping it at nine
people, because that's the mostlike I've ever Well, I ran
pretty massive games.
But you started diminishingreturns around that point.

SPEAKER_00 (30:22):
That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 (30:23):
And then like I'm actually asking one of my
classmates to like take notesabout how it goes so I can use
it for a research paper later ifI want.
Which is the excuse I use to getthe nice boardroom.
Yeah.
So like this weekend I have adaggerheart session, next
weekend I have a daggerheartsession.
Uh two weeks into the boardroomI have a daggerheart session.
But I'm really just not thatexciting right now.

(30:44):
I was exciting last week and theweek before, but I'm like, no
no, I got I got stuff to do.
Student life has come up.

SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
I mean, that's fair, because Short and Jump, I don't
know if I'd say it's excitingright now, but it's worth just
slowly shifting.

SPEAKER_01 (31:01):
Alright.
Yeah.
So let's start with what I haveto dunk on every week.
Has the Martial King gotten goodyet?
Because I don't think so.
I'm still very mad at it.

SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
It still doesn't know what it wants to be.
Uh the artist is amazing.
The story is written by AI.
And thus the main character isshifting to be an AI.

SPEAKER_01 (31:23):
I'll allow it.
That seems accurate.
It just It's so inconsistentlywritten that it frustrates me.
And I also.
So a podcast I was watching wascomplaining about My Hero
Academia.
And what they're complainingabout was why is there fan
service when you put all thesekids in high school?
Like, it's like they'll come upwith these asinine

(31:46):
justifications, like, oh, sheuses her body fat to make
objects.
That's why she wears this.
Like, you could have just notwrote the power to work that
way.
So, in Marshall King, I alwaysthink, why are they high school
students?
This has makes no sense.
There's literally no reason todo this at all, whatsoever.

(32:07):
So you're doing this like animefan service bullshit, which
happened a lot in this chapter.
Because, like, there's nonarrative justification
whatsoever for her to be wearinga skirt.
It simply does not make sense.

SPEAKER_00 (32:21):
In the desert that used to be the Pacific Ocean.

SPEAKER_01 (32:24):
In the desert that used to be the Pacific Ocean,
why would you be in a highschool outfit?
There's simply no reason itwould work out that way.
And it's like, why are thesecharacters even minors in gun
school?
You choose how old they are.
And then like the characterdesigns just are so inconsistent

(32:44):
that you say the art school andI disagree, because every
character's either weird, angry,chibi, or 32-year-old that says
they're 18.
I'm like, what is happeninghere?
So Marshall King, despite doingfun things of color effects,
just keeps making me mad.

SPEAKER_00 (33:05):
Uh well, I mean, sad rhymes with mad, and uh One
Punch Man has made me sad,that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (33:15):
One Punch Man, I hate to say it, it comes out so
inconsistently and slowly thatthey should have just ended it
after the Garo fight, becauselike I don't care, man.

SPEAKER_00 (33:27):
Well and that for some reason, we've probably
talked about this before too,but but for some reason they've
posted official chapters on theuh Shonen Jump app, and then
when uh the authors uh decide torewrite these chapters, they'll
just take those chapters downand replace them without any

(33:48):
sort of notification whatsoever.

SPEAKER_01 (33:50):
It does seem like what I would do, to be fair.

SPEAKER_00 (33:53):
Yeah, but like do these authors write themselves
into a corner?
Do they not know what to do withSitom anymore?
Where it's like, oh, he'sfighting a powerful monster and
he just jumps into space andthen comes back and there's news
coverage that makes a little gagabout it about him being the one
who was kidnapped.

SPEAKER_01 (34:12):
So I made this rant a while ago where one of the
problems of new gen anime isthey it was I call it the
pendulum effect.
So we started by having simplytoo much filler being added into
things, right?
Where we hit a point whereNaruto was what, 70% filler?
Like, or Bleach was likeliterally 70% filler.
Right.
So then we pendulum and theyswitch from doing a weekly model

(34:33):
to a season model, and then MyHero Academia has literally no
filler.
Yeah, okay.
My favorite example of this isInuwasha's first six seasons,
every major conflict or plot arctook place over two or three
episodes, right?
Like the hair demon was aproblem that took like three
episodes, Soshomaru took likethree episodes.
Then they take their three-yearbreak and they release their

(34:55):
like Inuasha the final act, andsuddenly every plot point goes
from being three episodes tohalf an episode.
So it's like like each episodewill have like one to two major
story beats happen.
I didn't care for the secondpart as much on a rewatch.
Because a lot of the show almosthad like a horror or a romance
atmosphere going on, like partof the show was the slow shots

(35:18):
on the water lilies going downthe stream as like the claws
drove across someone's neck,like really dragging it out
helped the atmosphere a lot.
Yeah.
So when we get to things likemodern show and jump, they're
all trying to like target thisADHD things need to happen.
And One Punch Man suffers fromboth.
So early One Punch Man oncespent an entire chapter of Genos

(35:42):
versus Saitama, right?

SPEAKER_02 (35:44):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (35:45):
And I think that is to this day, it was a chapter so
well drawn that it's betteranimated than the anime.
Yeah.
Like Garo vs.
Saitama was better animated thanan anime.
But its pacing is like when itslows down and lets moments
breathe, it's good.
But then they're just blitzingthrough all of this exposition

(36:07):
random crap, and they're like,we want to make so much story
happen when there's no storyhere.
That pacing is just abysmal.
I agree.
Now let's go to what's possiblythe best thing in show and jump
right now, and has been for awhile, Chainsaw Man.
Chainsaw Man spent 110 episodesfor someone to get hit with
Michigan.

(36:28):
And when you build up acharacter for 110 episodes, I
deeply invested in him beingbeaten by the state of Michigan.

SPEAKER_00 (36:37):
Michigan got turned into a sword.

SPEAKER_01 (36:40):
Which you can't just pull that out if you're just
jumping through plot reel.
You gotta build to that, right?
It's like because they'veestablished their powers to turn
things into weapons they have tocontrol over.
They gave this full speech aboutAmerica.
I am completely on board withjust being hit by Michigan.
Yeah?
I have no problems with it beinghit by Michigan.

SPEAKER_00 (37:02):
It has been hurt.
One Punch Man uh is absolutelyridiculous.
Uh it has a lot of scenes thatkind of toe the line of uh what
might be considered appropriate,but it all makes sense in
context, and it it's really onethe Chainsaw Man is is one of

(37:23):
the best uh series in Shona Jumpfor sure.
Because what else say about whatapparently uh um I I saw a video
uh people were asking a Japaneseperson how do you say chainsaw
man in Japanese.
And apparently uh it's justchainsaw man.
Perfect, flawless ten out.

(37:44):
Because the actual words forchainsaw and and man are kind of
a tongue twister in Japanese,apparently.

SPEAKER_01 (37:51):
So, like the thing comparing the difference between
like one punch man and chainsawman here, I do think it's
largely about pacing and scope.
So Chainsaw Man only everfollows maybe two or three
characters at a time.
Right.
So season two's big twist isthere's now two protagonists.
Which, for the record, havingtwo protagonists for a hundred

(38:14):
chapters to then make them bethe final battle, beautiful.
Ten out of ten.
Great strategy.
Like, this is Narda vs.
Sasuke without any of the Madarabullshit in the middle.
Like, this is great.
But One Punch Man has two maincharacters, and then they waste
our time.
So One Punch Man is as long asChainsaw Man.

(38:35):
They're about chapter by chapterthe same length.
Mm-hmm.
We don't care about the Neo HeroFoundation, because our two
characters we care about, it'snot following.
Because we only care aboutSaitama and maybe Genos.
Remember Genos?
Because One Punch Man doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 (38:53):
Genos was even given the opportunity to join uh the
Neo Hero Association, and theyjust he's just like, oh yeah,
no, I just won't.

SPEAKER_01 (39:03):
So it's like.
not following these charactersis just bad form.
Like, they're taking their ownenergy.
So now to move into One Piece,you don't follow One Piece.
There is no real reason todiscuss it.
But I will say briefly, OnePiece is interesting that the

(39:24):
things happening outside themain story of One Piece are
typically more interesting.
And his long game payoff, ifI've ever given an argument if
I'm try is the thesis statementof this episode is that slow
burning a show is worth it,especially if you're doing a
weekly release format.
One Piece is getting rewards.
They're like, oh yeah, our mainvillains this arc, we showed you

(39:47):
a thousand chapters ago.
Like, One Piece is at the pointwhere it's like really doesn't
have to add more characters toit.
And as long as it bites thatimpulse and only adds like a few
an arc, if any, it'll be solid.
So One Piece is just living itsbest life right now.
I'm gonna pick it though toKagura Banchi, which is

(40:09):
suffering a bit from Bleachproblem at the moment.
So Kagura Banchi, coolest showin Chow and Jump, series of Chow
and Jump right now.
Best, I don't know, objectivelycoolest.

SPEAKER_00 (40:19):
I I would say so.

SPEAKER_01 (40:21):
My thing with it though is, remember when you
first got into Bleach, youcouldn't remember what the hell
anyone's name was?
Right.
I have that problem a bit whereI'm like, I've seen these
characters, I don't knowanything about any of you.
At all.
Whatsoever.
And like, hey, do you rememberhis blonde partner from the
start?
I'm like, that got me back intoit, because I'm like, okay.
There's a lot of thingshappening, and I respect that

(40:41):
they're at chapter 100.
And out of like the big sixsteel blade guys, only two have
actually only one's been pulledoff the roster, and then two
have become active characters.
So I'm like, okay, you said wehave the Yakotsky, and you've
literally only used two of them.
I respect the self-control.
I really enjoyed the guy beinglike, I need to kill you,
because you went mad.

(41:02):
He's like, no, no, I did it.
They're like, oh never mind, Iguess I need to promote you
then.
My B.
And I'm like, so I'm keeplyinvested, but I cannot tell you
anything about the characters init.
And I think for it to survive inmodern show and jump, it has to
be running at this speed.
But if I were in charge of theanime for it, I would probably
make 25% of it filler just toget to know these people on

(41:23):
their off days.
Like, Bleach did a thing whereat the end of their episodes
they would literally just dolike little skits about the Soul
Society captains living theirlives.
Huh.
And I think that was reallyrelevant for people's
understanding of what thesecharacters are like, because
they like built them upoff-screen almost.
So they'd have personalities.

SPEAKER_00 (41:44):
Um, I I I definitely never actually watched uh the
Bleach anime.
Uh I d I don't actually watch awhole lot of anime.

SPEAKER_01 (41:52):
But you do know a lot of these fun facts through
me.

SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
But but because of the just the fact that it takes
longer to like it takes a halfhour to watch an episode of
anime, for me, it takes maybefive, ten minutes to read the
chapter that just gets way morecontent across generally.
Um but that is interesting whenthe anime does actually add

(42:16):
extra little bits of contentlike that that's sometimes
they'll be the anime, sometimesthey'll do like data books for
fun facts and things.

SPEAKER_01 (42:24):
But what's funny is like I also liked Bleach more
than you.
Pretty substantially.
And I think it's because part ofit is the characters in it, I
simply knew more about than you.
So I probably care more whenthey got.
Although, I was saying the otherday, Bleach would have been so
much better if whenever acharacter got death baited, they

(42:46):
actually just died, so the castkept shrinking in size, so we
could actually all thecharacters.
Like, imagine how much betterBleach would be if after the
Eisenark, half the captains anduh three-quarters of the
lieutenants were just dead.
So new people we already knewgot promoted, so there's just
less care.
Like, if act if the ThousandYear Blood War, you're like, oh
yeah, Captain Kuchki's justdead, Toshio's just dead, and

(43:08):
this random lieutenants havebeen promoted, like that would
be great, because there's justless people we'd have to care
about.
Because he killed them becausethey died.

unknown (43:16):
Huh.

SPEAKER_01 (43:17):
But hot take aside, have you been reading the JJK
sequel?

SPEAKER_00 (43:22):
I I have.
Um.
I don't know, I I don't thinkit's it's not probably not worth
my time, but it comes out on thesame day as everything else, so.

SPEAKER_01 (43:32):
Because I've given my speech, I'm like, why are all
of you Borotoing when Borotoe isobjectively bad?
Stop making it be like, oh, andthen aliens fighting ghosts, and
I'm like, that's calledDandadan, and Dandadan's good.
I'm so bitter, because it's likeJJK's ending didn't feel like a
series ending.

(43:53):
It felt like a plot arc ending,right?
Like it felt like when ChainsawMan's like public security arc
ended.
They like if JJK just popped up,Sukuna arc ended.

SPEAKER_00 (44:02):
Fine.
Uh I I think that the the JJKsequel, uh, they realized um
that they made a mistake in inuh doing a time skip.
Uh and that was like, actually,now we need to find uh Itadori
uh to fight the aliens to makesure the aliens are scared of

(44:22):
us.

SPEAKER_01 (44:23):
But that's so lame.
And like I remember I wasreading the newest chapter and
they're like, but I have cancer.
I'm like, I don't even know yourname.
Why is you using this as a plottwist?
Why was this not the first thingwe learned about this character
to add any depth or content?
Because like a dramatic twistonly works if there's a status
quo to twist.

SPEAKER_02 (44:43):
Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (44:44):
Like if you open with that, like, oh, I only have
six months to live, that likerecontextualizes everything a
character does.
Would work if you hadcharacters.

SPEAKER_00 (44:53):
It would have added a lot more uh urgency to the
idea that she needs to get thisring back from her brother, so
she needs to become strongenough to to take it.
Um And then if her brotherdoesn't know, it'd like
recontextualize his like notnecessarily recontextualize, I
guess, but the the idea thathe's uh not letting her have

(45:14):
this ring because she's notstrong enough, uh, and he
doesn't realize she only has sixmonths to live.
Just like it would have been somuch more poetic and interesting
in the dynamic between thesiblings uh if we had opened
with that instead of learningthat several chapters in.

SPEAKER_01 (45:30):
Well, it's like when I was giving advice for
annotating this book for thisassignment, I'm like, plot
twists aren't for writers,they're for readers.
And it's like read the lastchapter first when you're
analyzing lit, so you can likeunderstand where they're going
with it.
But like, a lot of these weeklyseries that just try and like do
dramatic plot twists too earlywith no foundation, I'm like,

(45:52):
but we don't care.
Right.
Like, ironically, like if welearned that Main Dude's daddy
Kagura Banshi was evil, wewouldn't care.
Not really.
Because that's not a useful plottwist.

SPEAKER_00 (46:06):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (46:07):
What is a useful plot twist is like that blind
guy chose to stay blind becausethat way he could not have to
look at his daughter in the facebecause he knew he'd be too
emotionally weak to continue ifhe saw her smile.
That's good, right?
That's a good plot twist.
The plot twist of why haven'tyou healed your own eyes, then
asshole?
That was great.

(46:29):
Like, I loved that.
I'm like, oh yeah, wait aminute.
He has healing powers, he's thecoolest cleric in DD history.
Why hasn't he healed his eyes?
Like, because if I saw what thatI was giving up my daughter, I
wouldn't be able to go throughit, and I'm like, that's depth,
right?
Like, that did something to me,because that actually like, oh.
I see.
That's interesting that youchose to do that.

(46:51):
Like to like leave your eyes notworking because you don't want
to grow too attached to someone?
That's beautiful.
And Kagurobomchi's not trying tobe like a like Kagurobomchi's a
John Wick movie, and I'm like, Iwasn't expecting that level of
depth from my John Wick movie.
This is great.

SPEAKER_00 (47:07):
Hmm.
Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 (47:10):
You know, Spy Family suffers from pacing.
Actually, I think Spy Familyjust suffers from a really
schedule.
If it was weekly, not monthly, Ithink it'd be fine.
Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_00 (47:23):
Uh, but so uh Um Ping Pong Peril.

SPEAKER_01 (47:30):
Uh perfect 10 out of 10 flawless manga.
Read Ping Pong Peril.

SPEAKER_00 (47:36):
It was a very interesting series.
Uh but somehow, it managed toget in fewer chapters than Nice
Person, and Nice Person uh wasapparently capped and it ended
after only 19 chapters, which isa which is again uh the curse of
Showmod and Shown Jump.
Uh and some series deserve it,like Nice Person.

(47:57):
Uh but Ping Pong Peril, I don'tknow how much longer they could
have actually kept it up,especially when they jumped the
shark to go to space and say itwas actually a galactic.

SPEAKER_01 (48:08):
So I talked about you this with you off stream
actually, where Ping Pong Perilunderstood the spirit of what
made Yu-Gi-Oh good that it lost.
Because Yu-Gi-Oh was never aboutcard strategies that made it
good.
It was about shenanigans, right?
Like it wasn't- No one remembersthat time that Yugi fused the
summon skull, the mammoth to thedragon to- That's not the part

(48:31):
that people remember.
People remember theflamethrowers and the smelling
card perfume and theshenanigans.
Right, right.
The idea of doing a weeklyseries of high stakes ping pong
with ridiculous shenanigans.
Flawless strategy?
I do think from like reading itand rereading it, it was
supposed to last as long as itdid, and it lasted the right

(48:52):
amount of time.
Cause I feel like the let's dothe last one in space is
something they decide to do whenthey're told you have three
chapters left.
They're like, alright, we'regoing to space.
Right.
But also, like, we're good.
We nailed it.
You can just be done.
Cause it is true that it wouldrequire a lot of creativity, and
he would have had to slow thepower curve of the series to

(49:14):
make because you have to likemake each ping pong match
increasingly ridiculous.
Right, right.
And what matched four wassomeone shooting themselves up
with steroids to try and hit onhis sister.
And then like then like playingping pong in the middle of a
traffic jam, bouncing off theheads in Shibuya Square.
I'm like, the ramp is real, butlike.

(49:36):
You wouldn't need to like slowyour roll a bit to keep it
going.
So I think but it nailed it.
And I think it was flawless andcould couldn't have gone much
further.

SPEAKER_00 (49:50):
Uh just just like the I mentioned nice person, uh,
because uh that was a a throughand through gag series uh that
was so bad, uh I appear to havedropped it after chapter twelve.
Uh and I I just don't generallydrop series because You're not
me.
I don't there's not I The morecontent I have to read, the

(50:12):
better.
And even if it's bad content,there's still something to be
learned less than.

SPEAKER_01 (50:16):
Oh yeah, especially like when we're technically
professional literatureanalysis.

SPEAKER_00 (50:21):
But Nice Person was uh just so bizarre and just
generally awful.
Uh I didn't even notice when itwhen it got fffff got canned.
Uh apparently.
September 7th was the lastchapter.
I I I do agree, I it deservedit.
Uh, I just thought that was kindof funny.
I was scrolling back to see whatwhat's been going on in Shonen
Jump, and it's like, huh, niceperson hasn't been updated in in

(50:44):
over a month.
Because it deserved to die.

SPEAKER_01 (50:48):
And then our my beloved World Trigger, where I'm
like, World Trigger is the kindof ex-girlfriend that puts out
cigarettes on my forehead.
Because like, I want to loveWorld Trigger.
I do.
And it's like, I gave theargument, like, our last show on
Jump Round out, like, six monthsago.

(51:10):
Which is funny, because likethat's like six chapters of
World Trigger.
And I made a quip where I'mlike, if World Trigger runs on a
long enough timeline, it'sspending a hundred chapters on,
you know, characters in a bottletest is worth it if it lasts
long enough, which is a wildthing.

(51:31):
Because the takeaway tet missiontest was 23 parts.
Right.
So it was about 23 chapters orshit.
So maybe longer.
I'd have to, like, actually lookthis up.
Which is pretty telling of theidea that I'd actually have to,
like.
The away mission test, accordingto just looking at this, was
chapters like 200 to 226.

(51:53):
And then before that, we hadsome actual lore drops.
My argument that if thefollow-up from it.
Like, if the away mission testin its 26 chapters, which it
felt longer.
I'm gonna be real.
I'm like looking it up rightnow, I'm like, oh, that wasn't
as long as I thought it was,because it was slow and tedious.

SPEAKER_02 (52:15):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (52:17):
It could easily, if the next one is also 26 chapters
of a badass battle royale, we'regood, right?

SPEAKER_02 (52:23):
Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 (52:24):
Because now we know what everyone does, their
personalities, yada yada yada.
If it pulls a one piece and thisjust goes for a thousand
chapters, absolutely worth it.
Right.
Cause now if characters likewhen they actually start going
and leaving, die, we've kind ofat least passively a bit had
every character's name and quipsbeaten into us.

(52:46):
Right.
Like, in My Hero Academia, ifthey made us sit with the 20
classmates for 26 chapters wherethey talked about their
feelings.
Maybe I'd care about them.
So, long story short, that's mythoughts on World Trigger, as
I'm like, man, you can she canbe good to me, right?

(53:08):
Like, if I give her enoughkindness, she will love me,
right?
Right, Carl?
Right?
Yeah, hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 (53:15):
As a quarter of World Trigger is a freaking
bottle exam.
Okay, uh, so on on uh adifferent note.
Um, firstly, what was the nameof that uh the series uh that
was about the people writing amanga?
Bakuman! Like Bakuman.
Uh yeah, I Bakuman had asurprising number of chapters.

(53:38):
Uh I don't think it was actuallypublished in Shonen Jump, but um
It was, and it was about Sho andJump.

SPEAKER_01 (53:44):
Like it was first party.

SPEAKER_00 (53:45):
Oh, yeah, yeah, okay, okay.
Uh sounds right.
Well uh it's not in the app, butthat's not really the point.
They don't have every ShonenJump series in here.
Um but uh Kurumu Z Kurumizawa'sFolly.
Uh has eight chapters.
Um and I I I it's about a uhstruggling manga artist uh who

(54:13):
discovers basically a copycatwho's illiterate, and so he
tricks the copycat into writinghis new series for him.

SPEAKER_01 (54:20):
Um wishes it was Ghost Writer Paradox.

SPEAKER_00 (54:27):
Well, so so like I said, Bakuman uh had a
surprising number of chapters.
I didn't think the story couldgo on that long about people
writing a manga in a manga.
Uh and so it's like I I don'treally feel like this story can
go on that much longer.
Like you've been surprisedbefore.
But I've been surprised before,yeah.

(54:47):
So like I I don't know, have youactually been been reading the
Ollie?

SPEAKER_01 (54:52):
Have, and it's like the reason I said about that, I
don't remember the exact title,but it's like Ghost Rider Time
Paradox something or other.
Yeah.
Is that one, kind of like theBach one that we'll talk about
briefly that also finished up,is for something like this to
really bite into me, it needs astrong central hook.

(55:12):
Bakumin's strong central hookwasn't manga, it was it was a
slow, slow, slowest burnromance, right?
He became a manga artist becausesexism.
And because toxic masculinitysaid the way he can win over his
girlfriend and spending timewith her was to become
successful as she becamesuccessful.

(55:33):
Inmittedly, my own real-worldrelationships kind of
paralleling that at the moment,which is amusing to me.
But the idea of, like, actuallythe point of this is I'm going
to work hard and they're gonnawork hard, we're gonna follow
our dreams together.
That's enough of a hook for meto be invested.
Like, as someone who's ride ordie on Kaguasama Love is war,
give me a slow burn romance andframe it however you want.

(55:56):
I love me a slow burn romance.
That's why I love NarutoShimputa.
Naruto and Sasuke was such agood slow burn romance.
The point being that this follyis missing a a compelling B
plot.
Right?
Like the A plot's fine, but itdoesn't have a B plot to really
drag me in yet.

(56:18):
That's it, that's where I'm atis.
It doesn't quite have the B plotI would need to get my
investment yet.

SPEAKER_00 (56:26):
Yeah, I th I think that might be might be why I
don't think it has I have highhopes for it to actually
succeed.
Like the the B plot is probablythe the dying girlfriend.

SPEAKER_01 (56:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (56:39):
But she hasn't actually, like, done anything.

SPEAKER_01 (56:45):
Well it's funny, like, a series we always throw
braise at, even though it's sooff of our normal reading list,
is Rury Dragon.
And that's because the A plot ofRury Dragon is actually
accurately authentically writtenteenage angst.
And then the B plot is, but alsodragons.

(57:05):
And like we're compelled everyweek because we're like, oh,
let's tune into these the comingof age story of stro like it's
one of those rare anime Wellmangas, sorry, where the
characters' ages are what howthey're actually acting.
It's like, oh, look at thesehigh school students acting like
high school students and beinglike, I wanna befriend the
dragon person, but also theyscare me because they're a

(57:27):
dragon, or the other one belike, I hate the dragon person
because they get all theattention.
And then they whine about it,and I'm like, this is great.
I'm gonna read thesewell-written series.
So I'm like, yeah, Rury Dragon'sB-plot is interesting, but its
A-plot is not about being RuryDragon at all.

SPEAKER_00 (57:46):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (57:50):
So, oh, I read a weird interview about Phineas
and Verb the other day.
So people are like, does it whatis the structure for Phineas and
Ferb?
And their random scienceexperiment of the week wasn't
the plot, it was the setting.
And the other characters theside characters were actually
the plot.
Right.
So it's like, no, no, the maincharacters, shenanigans, aren't

(58:13):
actually the plot of the story.
They just create a setting piecefor other characters to have
arcs.
Right, right.
So it's like, yeah, Ruby Dragonis a good example of doing it
well where it's like, no, no,the plot is high school
shenanigans, and the dragon isjust setting.
Where the Martial King hasnothing.

SPEAKER_00 (58:32):
It's just a but so speaking in with the the high
school theme, uh, have you beenreading someone hurt?
Uh it's a pun.

SPEAKER_01 (58:44):
So the pun gets points.
Right.
And the concept is amusing.
But it's like, oh, what was thatone about like the performing
art one?
Uh I'm blanking on it.
Anyway.
My point where I'm going withthis is that I just.

(59:06):
It's one of those things wherethis seems pretty good, but it's
not really for me.
Like, I'm just not quite vibingwith it.

SPEAKER_00 (59:12):
Yeah, I'm I've been surprised.

SPEAKER_01 (59:15):
Um I was drawing a blank on.
Where I'm like, this I justdon't think I've the target
audience for this piece.

SPEAKER_00 (59:22):
Uh the I I've been surprised at how many um of
these one-liners are actuallystill uh funny and interesting
when translated to English.
I was really worried that it wasgonna be like a uh extreme
cultural uh divide becauseJapanese puns are generally
different than English puns.

SPEAKER_01 (59:43):
This is why like comedies I enjoy dubbed rather
than subbed, because localizingthe jokes makes them better.
Bleach is so much funnierdubbed, it's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 (59:54):
Uh but uh yeah.
The Radio station uh plot pointis obviously with the the A plot
and the the B plot does kind ofjust seem to be high school
shenanigans as they build uppeople who they realize have
this common interest.
I don't know.

(01:00:14):
It it's kind of interesting, butit's also like I I don't know
how long it can go since they'vekind of uh put themselves into a
They've written themselves intoa corner with the romance, it
seems.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:26):
Fair.
And I'm gonna make acontroversial statement about O
Tur of the Flame that you'regonna agree with, but it's gonna
be one of those moments of thatwas uh what was the m Marvel
line it was like You're out ofline, but you're right.
Odor of Ota of the Flame is anineties manga.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:46):
Mmm.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:47):
It is the most 90s ass anime manga I've read in a
very long time.
Cause it's like I have myelement spirit, and I'm going
and meeting the other elementspirits, and I'm JRPGing through
Viking land, and there's evilfun, and I've made it to
Elfland, and I fuse to thespirit tree to talk to my fire
spirit, to go into fire spiritburning mode.

(01:01:10):
I'm like, man, this is such acallback to a simpler era.
Like, if there's a series thatwas coming out that would make
an actual we can release thisweekly and put in pillar arcs,
it's Odor of the Flame, like.
It is such a Knights of theZodiac, Shaman King ass manga.
And I love it personally,because I'm like, yeah, you go

(01:01:31):
with your kind of mediocreartwork and adequate dialogue,
decently written, competentshown in ass series, and showin'
and jump.
Thank you for not being an edgyexorcist wants to be chainsaw
man, but I'm too much of a bitchto hit someone with Michigan
series.
Like, let's look at NewsExorcist.

(01:01:53):
It wants to be JJK, but itdoesn't have the balls to be
JJK.
It's JJK written by ChatGPT.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:59):
Like, it doesn't have the willpower to be cool.
News Exorcist uh wants to beHima 10.
That's rough.
It's it's it's so bizarre.
Uh the it's just constantlytalking about getting the main
character into a relationshipand building up his harem of all

(01:02:20):
these uh powerful Exorcist girlswho think that uh the main
character's uh stalwart honestyand and straightforwardness is
an uh attractive quality.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:33):
Um it's just I mean to be fair, Japan is going
extinct, so I can see why peoplew really want to like do
something about that.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:43):
It's a very bizarre mix.
I it's actually a series.
I've I've read all 122 chapters,but it is a series that I'm
considering dropping.
Uh because it just doesn't theexorcism story.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:57):
What's really funny is Witchwatch is the exact same
plot, but gender inverted.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:02):
Yeah, I dropped Witch Watch too.
Although Witch Watch I droppedbecause of the the age
regression that just kind ofreset the plot.
And I was like, well, this isdumb.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:12):
And then I refuse to ever read Me and RoboCo, which
exists simply because badshaming is a cultural staple.
But it did outlive ping pongperil, so we can put another mo
notch on the better things it'soutlived chat chart.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:24):
Uh well, Me and RoboCo is gonna outlive a lot of
things.
It has 257 chapters.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:30):
Right.
Uh so my like secret shameseries I read every week is
Hematen.
And the thing about Hematen is Iread it to get mad at it.
Because there's literally noreason for any of the plot of
it.
Oh no, my attractive boss wholikes me, but I kind of had a
crush before someone else,before this successful woman who
pays me invited me for Christmasin her home alone.

(01:03:52):
Oh no, the conflict.
I'm like, what conflict?
She wrote you a handwritten cardthat says, Do you like me?
Check box.
You check the box.
Where's the conflict?
Well, the thing is, there'sother beautiful people in my
life.
I'm like, okay?
But you won already.
Just what?
And then she's like, I don'tknow if I should tell this

(01:04:14):
person who clearly likes me thatI clearly like him.
I'm like, how is this happening?
You're literally having acandlelit dinner right now.
How is there a plot here?

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:27):
Uh and then somehow, somehow the former idol becomes
their teacher.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:32):
See, the thing about that is I'm like, that's a fun
plot twist that does nothing,because there's no core
conflict.
It's like the idea that I readthis every week to be like, how
is this still go like legitimatecuriosity of like, because they
wrote him, like you said, thenice earnest guy trope, right?
Which is directly contradictoryto the harem trope.

(01:04:54):
And it's the funniest thing theykeep trying to do is be like,
this guy who's so perfect is ina harem.
I'm like, but if you're perfect,you wouldn't be in a harem.
You fundamentally physical likeSo like, I don't know, when
they're doing crap like crappyharem anime 20 years ago, 10
years ago, the main characterwas usually a derp bag.
Right.

(01:05:14):
That narratively makes moresense.
Because this guy being like, oh,I guess on Christmas I'll spend
time with her, but I'll buy allpeople equally costed gifts.
I'm like, you're a derp bag.
It's like, oh no, he's just sooblivious.
Well, if you look at his mostrecent received text, no, he's
just a dirt bag, I guess.

(01:05:36):
Like when three people are like,I want you to spend Christmas
just with me, you go like, okay,as friends to all three, you
kind of suck.
Right?

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:45):
So he's very indecisive.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:48):
Well, it's not even that he's indecisive, because
that would be drama.
He just is empty.
There's nothing there.
Like, he's not registering thatconflict is happening.
Uh, and then don't care aboutultimate extras Kyoshi.
Shinobi in your cover didnothing wrong.
I'm just not following it.
It's not his fault.
I just didn't say it, it justdidn't grab me.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:14):
The uh the main ninja uh has uh realized that
he's in love with his uh withhis charge.
Um and he's having uh internalemotional emotional turmoil over
it because he's supposed to bedoing a job to protect her, but
how can you do that if he hasfeelings for her?

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:31):
Honestly, fair though.
Like, I know that's like acliche, but that's a cliche I'm
fine with.
When we're talking about romancetropes that I enjoy, bodyguard
falls in love with a personthey're protecting but be
unprofessional, so instead theyjust kind of sit there and mope,
and then when the person they'rebodyguarding gets attacked, they
brutally beat the shit out ofthe person because they're
overly emotionally invested.

(01:06:51):
Like, that's actually one oflike I know it's a toxic writing
trope, and you should not dothis in real life, but I do
enjoy that in my fiction.
Like, it's makes narrative senseto be like, oh, I spend all this
time with this person, I careabout them because it's my job.
Oh no, I accidentally care aboutthem for real.
I need to do something aboutthis because this is dangerous

(01:07:12):
for everybody, is good.
I can get behind that.
Maybe it'd like it better ifthey just weren't high school
students, which is a weird thingto complain about for show and
jump.

SPEAKER_00 (01:07:23):
Well, yeah, I mean, we're we're I mean I've been
medically diagnosed as young,um, but I I'm probably not the
target demographic for show andjump.

SPEAKER_01 (01:07:34):
Yeah, but we also have the hindset of having
followed it for a decade meanswe can be grippy about it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:07:40):
That that is true, we have followed it for a long
time.

SPEAKER_01 (01:07:43):
So, like, Sakamoto days is suffering from last arc
mashle problem or from like,okay, can we like do s I hate
protagonist and coma so we canfollow side characters as an
arc, fundamentally.
I'd be like, no though.
Unless your side characters arewell written, the waiting for
Goku's trope is terrible.
And yes, it is the waiting forGoku trope.

(01:08:04):
Goku or Mashal or Ichiko orNaruto or anytime you have a
character in a MacGuffin healingsituation, even if it's a bed,
so we have to follow the sidecharacters till he wakes up.
Bad.
Right.
Bad writing every time.
I'm including Dragon Ball in thebad writing list.
Goku getting immediatelyre-hospitalized was bad writing.

(01:08:25):
Just have him take longer to getthere.

unknown (01:08:30):
Ooh!

SPEAKER_01 (01:08:31):
Lame! Bad.
You know what's sick though?
Goron Egg.
Are you you you like the series?
I don't know yet, but it'sinteresting, and it gets so many
points for being interesting.
So it's like graphically, it'slike, hey, I'm going to pull a
Tokyo ghoul and just be violent.

(01:08:53):
And I'm like, oh, that's brave.
And like, oh yeah, the monstershere suck.
They're just terrible.
And I'm gonna be decapitated.
And this one monster'sbefriending me, not because he's
a good person, but because hehas plans to screw over the
other monsters who are awful.
And I'm like, oh.
Right.
So you know how I mentionedthat, like, some of these
series, especially some of theseexorcist ones, want to be edgy,

(01:09:16):
but they're too cowardly toactually be edgy because they'll
get cancelled, so then they'rejust pretending to have edgy
tropes.
This one's at least giving methe decency of being edgy.
Right?
Like, kid goes off, has a bubblebath, talks about it, and then a
giant scorpion tries to murderhim, and then people call him a
blood soaked naked pervert.
I'm like, okay, you're trying tobe interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:38):
Uh so actually, the I I think my problem with the
Gone Run Egg uh is that um theyrecently had they uh I gotta
look back for it, uh Ke Dagami.
Kae Dagami.
Um, which is a series thatrecently ended, uh, and it was a
kind of similar series, uh whereuh this like spirit of war uh

(01:10:04):
accidentally befriends andbecomes friends with a kid, and
then they form a contract and hegoes around trying to recollect
her body parts and violentlymurdering all the other um
spirits.
Um and the series just ended umjust because it I ran out of
steam, I guess.

(01:10:24):
And it's just it's just weird tome that they essentially uh
introduced another series that'sthe exact same conduct concept,
um, except that the monster is ais an egg instead of a sexy hum
sexy lady.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:39):
Well, first off, you get bonus points for that in my
book immediately.

SPEAKER_00 (01:10:44):
I mean that's true.
Solid change.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:47):
But there is one big systemic change between the two.
Okay.
The people don't like hismonster.
Hmm.
I think that's relevant that thepeople So invisible monsters are
lame.
Actual monsters are interesting,because this is an actual
post-apocalyptic world, andpeople are like, oh, you have a
monster companion.

(01:11:07):
Screw you.
So a lot of times theprotagonist will be like, oh,
people should hate him, and thenit doesn't actually make sense,
it just turns into the bully,the superpower kid syndrome.
Right, right.
Where he's walking around withlike an actual Satan in his
pocket while like giant veinymonster mushroom person is
eating people, and they're like,Yeah, kick him out, he sucks.

(01:11:28):
I'm like, yeah.
That makes sense.
You should be mean to this kid.
He's carrying an actual monsterwith him that eats people.

SPEAKER_00 (01:11:38):
I mean, I've I've been I've been reading it, and
I'll continue to give it thebenefit of the doubt because I
uh I do give series the benefitof the doubt for quite a bit
longer than I should sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 (01:11:47):
I'm just saying it seems less cowardly than things
I've read recently.
It feels like I'm not gonna sayit's original, but I'm gonna say
like they actually made theylike tried to make the monster
scary, and they tried to build asetting.
You know how much I'm like, uh,Eka size, I can't be bothered to
invent a setting are kinda lame.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:06):
Well, and the Kage Dami or whatever, um was just
the most generic feudal Japanfantasy setting.
Like there was nothinginteresting about the setting
itself.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:17):
Where this one at least is post-abangelian.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:20):
Mm-mm.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:21):
So it's like, yeah, these monster designs, there's
some effort that went intothese.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:26):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:27):
And I appreciate that his just got his head
chopped off episode one.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:34):
There's some serious chainsaw man vibes there.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:37):
Well, like, when he pulled out his Bon Kai, I'm
like, okay, this is actuallykinda sick.
So, like, I I'm It's not Itdidn't blow me away, but I'm
like, okay.
This is at least differentenough weekly for me to read it
and not roll my eyes.
Then Mage Next Door is doomed.

(01:12:57):
But at least it amused me kindof.

SPEAKER_00 (01:12:59):
You think it's doomed?

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:01):
Oh, it's so doomed.

SPEAKER_00 (01:13:04):
What makes you say that?

SPEAKER_01 (01:13:06):
So how can I put this?
There's no plot.
So if I pull up my like BlakeSnyder story beat, save the cat,
mark up a plot, right?
His plot is, and it's kind oflike why you ended up dropping
Psychic Detective Choserou.

(01:13:27):
There's no plotties.
I have weird ma gimmick magic,and I'm gonna go fight other
wizards and open up a w uhlocation.
It's like, okay.
You got a bit, you have your bitestablished of what you're
doing.
But like, much like early OnePunch Man, this doesn't like
have an arc.

(01:13:47):
And season one of One Punch Manworked pretty good as an anime,
because they gave Saitama thatarc about, hey, I'm just gonna
save people even if people don'tcare, and it was stupid of me to
care.
And then he just starts gettingincreasingly diminishing
returns, because there's noactual arc there.
So I'm watching this guy belike, I have water gun magic, I
have key magic, I have whateverGupin magic I need.

(01:14:10):
I'm like, yeah, this guy can'tlose a fight.
Because he's not fighting, he'sjust winning.
But like, there's no likecentral mystery or hook really
to keep it going.
So it's gonna run as a gang,it'll either run forever as a
gang series or dry up and burnup.
Like Chosero, psychic detectiveChozaro needed an antagonist so

(01:14:30):
bad.
If that series had, like, anactual antagonist, it would have
been amazing.
Mage Next Door does not have anantagonist.

SPEAKER_00 (01:14:40):
I don't know, it's only on chapter two, so it does
still have time to introducethem.
And there's the whole mystery oflike this mages aren't human,
but this character is.

SPEAKER_01 (01:14:54):
Nah.
Yeah, exactly.
It's not a central mystery ifyou just came from MacGuffin
Land to your MacGuffin.

SPEAKER_00 (01:15:00):
Yeah, well, I mean, uh there's something there about
him being a human that got sentto Mage Land and then came back,
but not really.

SPEAKER_01 (01:15:09):
I call bullshit on that.

SPEAKER_00 (01:15:12):
There's still time for them to introduce other
characters to carry the plotforward.
But you are right that hehimself does not have enough
content to actually make along-running series unless it's
just a forever-running series.

SPEAKER_01 (01:15:27):
So, I'm gonna use the Reiner Lute example.
So Reiner Loot as a characterof, oh, I'm a lazy mage, that's
boring.
Was only interesting because hewas pretending to be a lazy
mage, because when, quote, whileI'm asleep, I'm not horrifyingly
murdering anybody.
No one dies while I'm sleeping,and the world will be better off
of sleep.
I'm like, oh, he's not lazy,he's severely traumatized for
all that murder he's done.

(01:15:49):
So I'm like, that's compelling.
This guy's like, oh, I'm ReinerLoot with no edgy backstory.
I'm just a lazy slacker.
I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.
You need like.
And then another series thatstarted that I'm shocked started
so close to it was Hero Girl andDemon Lord Call It Quits.

SPEAKER_00 (01:16:07):
Uh that's that's definitely a series that I think
is is doomed.
Um because the the Demon Lord,chapter one, um just reversed
time for everyone except for thepeople who didn't want to.

SPEAKER_01 (01:16:22):
So, yeah, I believe the it's funny that the problem
is power scaling, not concept.
So the idea that they're likehaving their fight to death,
like, you know what, screw it.
I'm just gonna be your roommate,let's do a rom-com.
I'm like, okay, but you're toobusted.
Like, you needed to be the rightlevel of busted for this bit to
have worked.

(01:16:43):
Because, like, he's so bustedthat she shouldn't have been
able to beat him in the firstplace, because he's too busted.

SPEAKER_00 (01:16:49):
I I agree.
Um unless she somehow hasequally ridiculous powers, uh,
but she doesn't appear tobecause the aliens came to Earth
to attack after the Demon Lorddisappeared.

SPEAKER_01 (01:17:01):
So, you know what I would have done with this series
if it was me?
So I would have made them anequal match, and I would have
had them mid-fight to the deathboth realize that they weren't
in it.
But like, I would have put themat like, uh, let's say.
Try to think of like the rightpower curve.
Like, I would have probably putthem at like Naruto and Sasuke

(01:17:22):
powerful.
And like I would have openedwith like a one-punch man
quality, epic fight scene, tothen flash forward to them him
being like, hey, do you wantinstant noodles for dinner?
Because it could definitely bedone.
Like, I read one that was TheDevil is a Part-Timer where
Satan had to like be a linecook.

SPEAKER_00 (01:17:39):
Yeah, I was gonna say, like, the the concept is
not unique.
It's unique in Shonen Jump atthe moment, but uh the concept
has definitely been done beforeof the big bad decides to
retire.

SPEAKER_01 (01:17:51):
Right, and like, to be fair, like one of the most
classic ships of all time isHero Girl and Demon Lord.
Like, I read one that was likeliterally Archage Mage and Demon
War, which was just the lesbianversion of the story that was
immensely better.
Part of it was because the magewas constantly fighting the
Demon Lord as an excuse to seethe Demon Lord, which just kept

(01:18:13):
leaving the Demon Lord superuncomfortable.
Hmm.
And it's like you can do thisstroke well, like I'm sure it
makes up a third of Web2.
But I'm shocked this gotpublished in Show and Jump,
because as you mentioned, TimeRewind ruined it, like you broke
the scope.
There needed to be a scope.

SPEAKER_00 (01:18:30):
Hmm.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:18:32):
Which is why Chainsaw Man's allowed to beat
people with Michigan.
Because they built up the scope.
They had earned certainly did.
I'm shocked that a character hitsomeone with Michigan, and I'm
like, that's awesome, it makesperfect sense.
And then Bug Ego suffers fromslow monthly release.

SPEAKER_00 (01:18:51):
Ah, I I rather did enjoy this chapter, although I
kind of uh um I kind of foresawthe the end result uh where it's
like, oh yeah, if you mistakesomething for something else, it
becomes that thing while you'redoing this hack, and it's like
you know you're gonna like makeyourself disappear, right?

(01:19:13):
Like well.
Well, I mean, the the ultimateresult where he's just like,
yeah, this hack is too dangerousand he he shuts it off uh makes
sense, but it was like theyshould have seen that coming
from the beginning for how smartthey appear to be.

SPEAKER_01 (01:19:30):
It's hard to write an intelligent character when
you yourself are not thatintelligent.
Like the writing joke that LightYagami thought he was really
smart, but then you actuallyreally think about it, he's
actually like the worst at hisjob.
Like, imagine having a magicnotebook that can kill anyone
anywhere and they narrow it downto like a two-city block where
you live.

SPEAKER_00 (01:19:50):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:19:51):
Like he's like, aha, to stop these FBI agents from
tailing me with my magicnotebook, I'll use an elaborate
scheme to have them killthemselves with it.
And I'm like, counterpoint.
If you don't kill them with yourmagic notebook, they won't be
able to prove magic notebook.
Right?
Like, your murder weapon, ifsomeone has your note like if a

(01:20:12):
cop, if you don't use it on thecops, and a cop finds that you
have a notebook where he wrotedown when people died in the
times, won't they just assumeyou're creepy and stalking these
killings?
Like, how could they prove youdid it?
Right.
You just don't use the magicnotebook.
They're not gonna test the badthing to test a magic notebook.
Like at one point he like givesElle a cryptic anger where he's

(01:20:34):
like gods of death like apples,and Elle's like, oh, magic's
involved, solved it! Like, wow,like you suck it.
He's like, I'm gonna kill themall the same way, so they think
there's a pattern to make abetter world.
I'm like, you're so bad at deathnoting.

SPEAKER_00 (01:20:50):
In any event, uh, I am really enjoying Bug Ego.
The characters are a bitinconsistent.
It's interesting.
It's super interesting.

SPEAKER_01 (01:20:59):
It gets so many points being interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (01:21:02):
It is a very unique series.
Uh I mean it is written by thesame person who writes One Punch
Man, and the guy is an amazingauthor when he's not working.
When he feels like it's artist.

SPEAKER_01 (01:21:14):
Just when he feels like it, let's be honest.

SPEAKER_00 (01:21:17):
Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 (01:21:20):
Well, it's like we've made through most of
Showing Jump here.
I kinda dropped Ichie the Witch.

SPEAKER_00 (01:21:26):
It's kinda doing something interesting.
Uh, where one of the magics anda human is actually they're
actually uh having a childtogether, uh, but the birth of
the child is draining themagic's powers and it's I don't
know, it might be goingsomewhere.

SPEAKER_01 (01:21:42):
I think I've done too much feminist studies to be
like in a world where only womencan be witches, a boy acquires
the power.
I'm like, and you're sayingnothing about gender identity in
this piece?
Fuck off.
Like, the porse Logine thispitching this story to Marvel.
I got a stor story for you.
All the superheroes are women,and our protagonist is a guy.

(01:22:03):
What?
Crazy! I'm like, fuck off.
Like, each of the wins wouldobjectively be better if the
protagonist was a woman, atleast, so you could at least try
and do a series.
Like the blandest assprotagonist on the planet.
Nothing there.

SPEAKER_00 (01:22:22):
I agree.

SPEAKER_01 (01:22:24):
And yeah, just kind of looking at series, I don't
follow Minexus as Kyoshi, Idon't follow Blue Box, I don't
follow Hakazoki Mound.
And I don't follow LuciusAmmonai or Dog's Red.
And I don't think Dog's Red isreally its fault that I don't
follow the sports manga.

SPEAKER_00 (01:22:43):
Uh yeah, I mean I was following it uh at the start
when it was actually like he wasapplying his figure skating
skills to hockey.
Um, but then it turned out tojust be him training for hockey
and not using his figure skatingskills.
And I was like, well, I I'm notin this for hockey, I'm in this
for the weird quirk.

SPEAKER_01 (01:23:02):
Right.
And then Blue Exorcist is stillgoing, which is wild.
And Black Clover's still going,and man have I not cared about
Black Clover in a long time.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23:12):
Uh Black Clover's weird.
They switched to a uh quarterlyrelease cycle.
Which is Well, but then theyrelease three chapters at a
time.
And it's like, well, whycouldn't you just have switched
to like monthly?

SPEAKER_01 (01:23:25):
I mean, if it doesn't kill the author, because
you gotta remember, show andjump authors have a high
mortality late.
Like, Oda's out hererecommending specific doctors to
people.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23:33):
Fair enough.

SPEAKER_01 (01:23:34):
Uh like it opens up an illustration of everyone in
swimsuits, and then it's like, Idon't know, man.
I'm always gonna be annoyed whensomeone's like, I'm the have the
worst power.
Actually, it's the best power.
Actually, it's genetics,actually.
Fuck off.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23:55):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:23:56):
Like Black Clover just kind of it scoped itself
out of being fully to me.

SPEAKER_00 (01:24:03):
Uh but I I think that you're right that we put up
most of the show and jump and wecould probably move on to uh the
plethora of random questions yousaid that came in this week.

SPEAKER_01 (01:24:12):
Yeah, so the first random question I got.
Hmm.
If you wanted any folklore beingto be real, which one would it
be?
Or the other way around, whichwould be the worst folklore
being to come to life?
Oh.
So first off.
I'm sorry to our viewers, I'mgonna hurt some people here, and

(01:24:33):
I apologize.
Spoiler warning, if just skipthis next session if you're a
big fan of Christmas.
Alright.
Everyone's had time to turn itoff.
I want Santa real!

SPEAKER_00 (01:24:46):
Oh Yeah, for a second I thought you were gonna
say you wanted Krampus to bereal.

SPEAKER_01 (01:24:51):
No, no, I want Santa to be real, but I feel bad if
someone just learned Santa's notreal from our podcast somehow.
Like, yeah, Santa would begreat! Like, yeah, uh.
Santa should be real.

SPEAKER_02 (01:25:06):
Mmm.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25:08):
Folklore characters.
I really hope you say Jesus.
That was my B option, which isjust so funny.

SPEAKER_00 (01:25:21):
Well, so uh I mean I haven't I'm not I'm not actually
that big on on folklorecharacters.
Like I'm trying to think of likeuh the Brothers Grim type
characters, but that's likedrawing a drawing a blank on
good characters.
Uh the worst character to bereal, I say uh Krampus would be

(01:25:41):
pretty terrible.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25:42):
Krampus would be pretty terrible.
Oh, there's some bad ones, likelike the werewolf that just eats
her grandmother and becomes heris pretty bad.
Just be real.
Like God from the Bible ispretty bad to be real.
One that has you chop babies inhalf.

SPEAKER_00 (01:26:03):
Uh yeah, yeah.
Go and sacrifice your son toprove your loyalty to me.

SPEAKER_01 (01:26:10):
Such love, such compassion.
Uh.
Loki would be pretty bad to bereal.
That could be a problem.

SPEAKER_00 (01:26:23):
Uh, you know, I I think actually, um if we if
we're allowed to use ancientmyths, uh I I do like the idea
of I don't know how Icarus doesit with his with the wings made
of wax.
Uh so I would really like it ifIcarus was we was real so I
could learn how to make thesewax wings, and then hopefully

(01:26:44):
not fly too close to the sunmyself.

SPEAKER_01 (01:26:46):
I enjoy that being like a YouTube tutorial he
gives.
You know what I think weactually need though?
I think we need like the actualmythological unicorn that goes
around and purifies water.
I think we need one of thosepretty bad right now, just
logistically.

SPEAKER_00 (01:27:05):
Yeah, quite possibly.

SPEAKER_01 (01:27:07):
And our second random question
is most likely to win apresidential election?
Amusingly, my brother off streamhas some thoughts about this
question.
But I'm gonna let you take thefirst crack at it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:27:22):
Well, I mean, the obvious answer is Mewtwo.

SPEAKER_01 (01:27:24):
So that's what I thought at first, but then my
brother brought up some reallyinteresting points.
So in New Zealand, it would beKangaskhan.
As the most recent election, thenominee traveled everywhere with
their child.
So, like, yeah, that's a goodone.
But here is his theory about it.
Is that in America, it would beCharizard.

(01:27:47):
So Charizard is a dick,canonically, right?
Just shoots his trainer in theface with fire.
And competitively, is garbage.
Right?
Like, four times weakness torock, has been an underused or
never years the entire time.
Yet somehow is the most popularand valuable Pokemon.

(01:28:08):
So America would absolutelyelect objectively,
statistically, the worst starterwho hates them to run their
country.
Yeah, okay.
And then that is my brother'stake, but does that change your
take at all?
It's like Mewtwo has psychicpowers, but like, it is still a

(01:28:30):
popular vote, and you can onlybrainwash so many people at
once.

SPEAKER_00 (01:28:34):
I I think it's gotta be like I was thinking Pokemon
that can actually communicatewith people.
Uh Mewtwo is uh top of the list.
Uh the other obvious answerwould be uh Team Rocket's
Meowth.

SPEAKER_01 (01:28:46):
I was gonna say Hepno, because he's also in the
Epstein list.
Same with Drift Loot.

SPEAKER_00 (01:28:59):
Uh but but if if if it's not uh if it's just limited
to like metaphor metaphors, thenuh then you have to put a lot
more thought into it, like yousaid with Charizard and Or if
you think about it, like peoplejust writing into ballots,
because you gotta rememberpeople don't actually listen to
their politicians, they justwrite who they want to win on
the ballot.
Well, in that case, it would bePikachu, like I don't think it

(01:29:20):
would.

SPEAKER_01 (01:29:20):
I don't think Pikachu tops Pokemon popularity
contests.
No?
Think so.
They did a massive Pokemonpopularity contest.
I'm gonna find it.

unknown (01:29:30):
Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 (01:29:35):
Uh see.
Because like Pikachu isbasically the mascot of Pokemon,
so so if you're going by thatthat kind of logic, like
Charizard's logic, uh, there areprobably more people who would
recognize Pikachu thanCharizard.

SPEAKER_01 (01:29:50):
Alright, here is the results of a recent survey.
So, Mimiku was in first place.
Ghost Pikachu got.
Gotcha.
Followed by Sylveon and Gengar.

SPEAKER_00 (01:30:07):
Okay.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:30:10):
So it's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 (01:30:11):
Pikachu even in the Was Pikachu even in the top ten?
No.
Huh.
I still think he's morerecognizable than than the
Pokemon you just mentioned.
Yeah, but as nerds, I recognizethem.
Uh, and Sylveon is sick.

SPEAKER_01 (01:30:24):
But Sylveon would be so good for trans and bisexual
rights if elected as president.
Like, I like Sylveon's policies.
Like, let's go with PokemonMystery Dungeon Dungeon Logic
that all the Pokemon can speak.
And their personality is kind ofinfluenced by what Pokemon they
are.

Let's pivot the question (01:30:39):
who would you vote for to be your
Pokemon Prime Minister?
Based on like just their likevibes and how you think they'd
be personality-wise.
Just under the assumption thatthey can all talk.

SPEAKER_00 (01:30:57):
That's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 (01:30:59):
And then specifically for Prime Minister
of Canada.

SPEAKER_00 (01:31:05):
For Prime Minister of Canada.
Who do I think is going to um?

SPEAKER_01 (01:31:12):
You know, I think I uh I might vote for like uh Mr.
Mime.
You know, that actually came upfrom like earlier today as well,
that someone's pro Mr.
Mime, but I want to know why.

SPEAKER_00 (01:31:26):
Well, you know, like Canada is uh well known, like
you say, for uh uh our artisticmerits and and protecting our
our artists.
I really do think that Mr.
Mime would fall in line withthat.
Uh and uh I think that he woulduh represent marginalized
groups.
Uh and then also he is psychic,so that's gonna that's gonna

(01:31:47):
just gonna help him in generaluh with uh being a politician.

SPEAKER_01 (01:31:52):
So I'm feeling I think I'm voting for Togekiss.

SPEAKER_00 (01:31:57):
I do like Togekiss.

SPEAKER_01 (01:31:59):
It's literally spreads peace and goodwill
wherever it flies, literallyavoids conflict, and is loved
unanimously by the public.
It might end up turning us intoa socialist communist hellscape,
but I'm willing to give that arisk.

SPEAKER_00 (01:32:14):
Uh well, okay, so so if we actually if communism had
some sort of proper governancethat, you know, like basically
mind control people to be happyand loving, then uh it wouldn't
really be a hellscape.

SPEAKER_01 (01:32:28):
To be fair, if we were to go on the whole idea
between authoritarianism andvarious like th philosophies,
altruism, utilitarianism, likethere is a full two-hour podcast
on it's like most of the thingsthat people associate that are
bad with communism are actuallybeing associated with
dictatorship.

(01:32:49):
Via communism, but that's a fullother discussion.
But for now, thank you forsubmitting your questions into
Deep Space and Dragons.
Your names have been enteredinto my monthly draw for a
signed copy of the Waltz ofBlades.
Send in your questions.

SPEAKER_00 (01:33:04):
Don't worry.
Uh, you're you're not beingdocked like my workplace.

SPEAKER_01 (01:33:08):
Why would you bring that up?
Besides, they don't think yourpizza place is real.
They're like, oh, that's a fakename.

SPEAKER_00 (01:33:16):
That's a fake name.

SPEAKER_01 (01:33:17):
They would have given it's probably actually
called like family pizza orsomething.

SPEAKER_00 (01:33:25):
One of our slogans is Peace, Love, and Death to
Family Pizza.

SPEAKER_01 (01:33:30):
So it's much funnier if you worked for Family Pizza
this whole time, and this wasjust a psy-off.
That would be funny.
I would respect the commitmentgreatly.
Also, rest in peace, kaijunumber eight.

SPEAKER_00 (01:33:45):
Yeah, hopefully it gets a sequel or a spin-off
series that's interesting too.
It'd be so easy to do.

SPEAKER_01 (01:33:50):
And that one's allowed to have aliens invade.
I'd be fine with that.
Because if they said the kaijuscame from space originally, I'd
be like, yeah, it makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 (01:34:03):
Uh with that, and you know, self-care, rest,
hydrate, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 (01:34:09):
And buy them a book, I guess, if you want to.

SPEAKER_00 (01:34:12):
Or submit random questions to get it for free.

SPEAKER_01 (01:34:15):
That is the value way to do it.
Like, those books are likepotentially a$20 value.
Like, if you were to like sellfive of them on the black
market, you could get the downpayment on the Switch game to
get the virtual unlock key.
Bye.

(01:34:36):
Uh, show a Jeff Roundup's alwaysan easy episode to make.
Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 (01:34:40):
Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 (01:34:41):
It's so funny that I'm like, yeah, Ruri Dragon
probably wins.
I think if Otter of the Flamehad like the artist from One
Punch Man drawing it, it'dprobably be in first.
Hmm.
But like, eh, it's okay.
It's okay art.

SPEAKER_00 (01:34:56):
Yeah, I agree.
It's it's just okay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:34:58):
Yep.
Clearly, we need to enter thatcontest and get them to make
something good.
With monsters and menageries,perhaps.
Uh

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